The Spanish and Latin talents taking on the art world

From Madrid to Mexico City, we explore ten names flexing their creative muscle

With arteBA celebrating Latin America’s creative output and video fair and LOOP Barcelona showcasing what’s next in moving images until June 6, we’re casting an eye on Latin and Spanish artists flexing skills in new media, installation and sculpture from Madrid to Mexico City. With a range of spaces fostering talent in these hotter regions (take note of Mexico’s awesome galleries), it’s time to cast an eye away from the usual art hotspots of London, NYC and Berlin. Get a hold of artists making sci-fi sculpture, floating carpets and bleach-cream canvases below.

EMILIO GOMARIZ

The Mac, for most, isn’t more than a consumption vessel – a place to get caught up, occasionally do work and more often, procrastinate. Gomariz makes an artwork of the screen itself, exploring the potential of its operating system, morphing and creating computer graphics and digital compositions with the humble tools available through inbuilt software. Check out work from the Alicante-based artist at Kaleidorama, showing at Sydney’s Stills Gallery from June 13 to July 18.

"Animated Pixel Painting 2014"Courtesy of Emilio Gomariz

SANGREE

'Sangree is pura too motherfucker Sangree is formed from the proverbial ashes of another victim Sangree is a medium maturing'

Reyes loves sci-fi narratives and his recent work – lacquered aluminium, paint and print crumpled into colourful sculptures – takes on the shiny futurism typical of the genre. The Madrid-based artist used to make loads of freaky pencil drawings but a recent stint in Brazil saw him move to more tangible abstractions, still sustaining a sense of otherworldliness. He’ll be showing CENTRO CENTRO, Ponce+Robles Gallery and Paula Alonso Gallery later this year.

Last year, besties Jourdan Dunn and Cara Delevingne got matching tattoos. It just so happened that the intertwining ‘Ds’ inked on their hips had an uncanny resemblance to the Debora Delmar Corp logo – a bewildering wonder that Débora analysed at length for Dis Magazine soon after stumbling over Cara’s Instagram picture. Fashioning a hyper-corporate moniker for her practice after moving to New York, the tattoo is a fitting extension of DD Corp’s interests, spanning consumer culture, branding and ownership. The Mexico City native works with mixed media and installation to explore capitalist culture aesthetics (coffee culture, juicing and class aspiration all feature in her backlog). Assist the Corp’s consumptive mission and purchase a T-Shirt here.

From the Pure+ exhibitionCourtesy of Debora Delmar Corp

MARIAN GARRIDO

Garrido recently exhibited a flying carpet for Nicelly Ofensiveearlier this year, referencing utopian ideas of world access and all-knowingness that accompanied the Internet’s birth. Born in Asturias in the early 80s, the multi-disciplinary artist is gripped by the looks of virtual reality, technology, mediated identities and science – once creating digital prints of robots created with her facial features. She’s also working on an ongoing project where she stalks people on Facebook who share her name – keep on top of it here.

From Between Self and SelfieCourtesy of Marian Garrido

SANTIAGO PINYOL

Working between Bogotá and Madrid, Santiago analyses the duty and use of the image – how it’s made, framed and shown. Using a research-like method, the fine-art graduate recreates and exposes everyday situations – recreating a set of frames covered in sky motifs, simulating a window and obscuring a set of camera tripods. For Santiago, the image is more than what it represents.

"Idea para un paisaje ideal", 2013via Producción Inmaterial

MANUEL FERNÁNDEZ

Fernández once did a GIF series mocking facial recognition, exposing tech’s dumbness as it fails to catch a face on images of a dildo, bin bag and plant. The Spanish artist often employs sculpture, video, paint, photography and web-based applications to navigate tech-potentials, pop culture, commodity and the production of art. "His New Ruins. Google Earth Tour" and "Brush Stock Paintings" are particular highlights.

"BG Painting 001"Courtesy of Manuel Fernández

CHRISTIAN CAMACHO

Camacho often disguises materials, making them do and replicate other forms and spaces. His ongoing installation series see hyper-real pencil drawings of exhibition spaces (at first glance they actually look like black and white photos) whilst "La Noche (The Night)" is a sugar-crystallised canvas that appears as though it’s covered in broken glass. Having studied Fine Arts in Mexico before doing an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art, the artist uses a plethora of mediums to abstract materials and appearances to uncanny effect. Catch Camacho’s solo exhibition, doble electrón, at Arróniz Arte Contemporáneo, on until June 17.

"La Noche [The Night]"Courtesy of Christian Camacho

AGGTELEK

Aggtelek, for their 2014 work "Real" sold a series of performative concepts, one of them named "Do The Homer" – a two-day getaway involving “drinking beer, watching TV and getting bored” – aptly priced at 2,000€ (feel free to buy more concepts here.) An artistic collaboration between Alejandro Valles and Gema Perales, Aggtelek is a playful duo, making work that often makes fun of everyday life and the processes of art production. Performances, sculptures, texts and installations stand far away from ideas of glorified-defied-art fantasies; instead their work keenly invites conversation and participation.

"Waiting for Gordot's WhatsApp"Courtesy of Aggtelek

NATALIA IBÁÑEZ LARIO

Ibáñez Lario is obsessed with girls, their interactions with technologies, their rituals, their networks and social networking ways. *Applied Arts*saw mirrors topped with tea-lights and petals as well as canvas’s printed with braids, ribbons and lace. Whilst for The Anti-Aging/Anti-Misery Formula, the Barcelona-born artist created lazer-cut acrylic wall-mounts covered in skin-whitening cream and an assortment of gels and parebens. Pinks, purples and reds are her chief colour scheme, wielded as she explores the human body and its mediation.